safe & efficient car - any recommendations

[time4tea]

Hello

I'm learning to drive, and need to buy a car. We live in North London, want something very reliable in terms of not breaking down and as fuel/eco efficient as possible, but also as safe as possible in terms of structural strength in case of a crash (best friend's sister and family were just involved in a serious accident, lucky to get away with no long-term injury)

thanks for any advice you can give - I know nothing at all about cars... and would rather ask MN than read a car magazine

T4T

When we found out that DD was on the way, DP researched what to replace my beloved Mini with and we got a Honda CRV.

Its low emissions diesel which means cheaper road tax, its a Honda and the parts are cheaper than what we had before (BMW), its pretty spacious with that big car feel, but really easy to drive and we can easily put all of DD's stuff in.

Message withdrawn

We;ve got a Seat Altea. Lots of space and rated really highly on the saftey front. Plus they're VW's underneath and really reliable.

I second the Seat. I have an Ibiza Sport.